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Best Stuff Of 2016

Even after 13 years, there’s no formal Best Stuff process: Our methodology isn’t “academically rigorous”; we aren’t “entirely responsible” with
the products; we can’t claim not to “keep the supercar too long.” The important part is: We actually test the s#!t out of hundreds of objects throughout the year. And once we’re done with the testing, we ask ourselves: Does it work better than anything like it? Is it better-looking than anything like it? If the answer is “Hell yeah!” then we have a winner. There was a lot of impressive stuff this year, but we can say, with no hesitation and only a little guilt, this is the best.

Blades Of Entertaining Glory

The Azmaya cheese knife is a miniature cleaver, so it can do what a set of cheese knives can (slice, scoop, cube, and, uh, cleave) plus inspire conversation that’s mercifully unrelated to cheese. The 5.5-inch Small Chef knife from New Orleans’s Lockjaw Knives can handle anything else you need to slice for a party—such as the lemon twist for the Best Stuff martini you make using five parts J. Rieger and one part Escubac.

The Sharpest Way to Shave

Switch To A Whole New Frequency

Even high-end headphones sound low-end when you’re plugging them directly into a computer—or even worse, a phone. JDS Labs’ The Element amp/digital-to-audio converter enriches your sound without requiring audiophile expertise: There’s only one knob. Pair it with the Focal ELEAR headphones, so clear and comfortable you’ll re-listen to your favorite songs to hear all the sounds you’ve been cheated out of.

Load A Lower-Key Pipe

We don’t get why head shops are still stocked with twisty, swirly paraphernalia that seems inspired by a trippy experience a glassblower had
in the ’80s. Meredith Arthur, the L.A. craftswoman behind Haciendaware, makes all her pipes from clay, then airbrushes them for a look that finally resembles your desired mind state.

Safety First (But Style A Close Second)

An adult bicycle helmet usually looks like something that comes with matching kneepads and a free subscription to SI Kids. But Hedon’s
Cortex helmet, with its simple shape and calfskin trim, protects your style as much as your noggin.

Supercar, Superprice

The first-generation Acura NSX (1991–2005) was revolutionary: aluminum construction and 500,000-mile reliability from a supercar with Ferrari performance. Now the NSX is back as a hybrid and even more impressive than the original. It’s as complicated as the million-dollar hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder, but with more feel and feedback. The feature we love the most: Electric motors on the front two wheels provide instant (and we mean instant ) power to make up for the momentary lag associated with any turbo engine. It’s 75 percent of the 918 at 20 percent of the price.

Starts at $156,000 ($207,700 as driven by GQ )

A Football That's Also Your Coach

The Wilson X Connected Football has an accelerometer inside that pairs with an app to track your yardage, the tightness of your spiral, and a bunch of other stats that’ll prove to your cousin that, no, he couldn’t be a third-stringer on Sundays if he had “stayed with it.”

Switch Your Allegiance From Nylon To Cashmere

The Future of TV's

Remember when we moved from bulky TVs to sleek plasmas and LCDs? The next revolution comes as (now relatively affordable) OLED TVs: thinner-than-iPhone screens with individually lit pixels that result in perfect blacks and all the other features you'll need to experience 2017's best television. LG's OLED B6 65" TV is the least expensive in its line, but the image stuns.

Mr. Coffee's More Stylish Cousin

This ceramic Sucabaruca Coffee Set from Mjölk finally made us switch from the patience-trying French-press method to the even slower pour-over method. It makes a great cup of coffee, sure, but just as important, it’s basically a modular sculpture when it’s not being used.

A Cocktail To Go

Rock and rye was America’s O.G. beverage combo—a simple, reliable 19th-century saloon treat that promised, via a healthy helping of rock candy, to make any sub-par whiskey palatable. Hochstadter’s Slow & Low Rock and Rye helped bring it back in 2014 by adding raw honey, a dash of bitters, and a hint of orange. Now it’s sippable straight from a can that’ll fit in your jacket pocket.

Honey, Where Are My Keys?

Right here sweetheart. Purposeful in its simplicity, the Made Solid Paint Splatter Box proves there's no reason a catchall should be dreary. Never again search frantically for your essentials, like these next-level-Warby Parker glasses, handcrafted In Japan, from Archibald; your trusty brass pen that, yes, you still need, even with your fancy cell phone; and, of cource, your keys, clipped to this Tod's key ring—a little nod to luxury's whimsical revolution.

The Container Your Whiskey Deserves

Decanters are usually cut-crystal behemoths that suggest to your guests, “I’d rather be wearing an opera cape.” The copperand-
glass Tank Whiskey Decanter from Tom Dixon says you care as much about modern design as you do about aged whiskey.

The First Reader To Guess What This Thing Does Receives A Free Whatever This Thing Is

At first glance, the Ico, designed by Fort Standard for OTHR, is just a small piece of art for your shelf. At second glance, it’s still a small piece of art. At third glance—look, we could be here all day. The deal is: It’s a bottle opener made of 3-D-printed bronze. And, after using it on dozens and dozens of beers, we can tell you: It works.

An Indestructible Leica

The Great Battle of Megapixels is over. Even a $500 camera—or hell, an iPhone—is going to take shots that are pretty damn good, so
the best camera makers all have their eyes on specialized products. This year Leica, the brand long known for its gloriously minimal and
straight-up beautiful cameras, introduced the waterproof, drop-proof Leica X-U, a rugged camera that doesn’t say “rugged camera.”

A Stapler That Will Make You Start Printing Out Documents Again

We haven’t had a stapler on our desk since the second Bush administration. It’s not because we don’t enjoy stapling things—we don’t,
but still—it’s because our old Swingline is an emblem of drudgery. This stapler from Romeo Maestri is an emblem of form, function, and
office cool.

The Travel Pro's Travel Bag

The Vocier C38 is the ultimate business-travelbag: a clever wraparound compartment to keep (and hang) two suits wrinkle-free, a slot for a dopp kit that'll slide out easily during security, and a svelte design that won't give you pause when you've gotta go straight from the plane to the client.

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